Dignified in Conduct…

“An officer should, at all times, be dignified in his conduct. Dignity is nothing more than the avoidance of coarse behaviour. It requires the control of one’s emotions. To be profane, boisterous, or “loud‐mouthed” is to be coarse. An officer who makes a spectacle of himself by being loud, or by losing his temper on… Read More

I Presuppose…

“Leadership presupposes two things:‐‐ A leader, and men capable of being led. A stag cannot lead an army of lions; a lion cannot persuade an army of stags to follow. What then is required? A lion leading lions. In other words, the qualities of leader and led are very similar.The chief of these qualities are:‐‐(1)… Read More

Wrong Place, Right Leader…

“It was indeed seldom that [Southern] officers were guilty of cowardice upon the field of battle; but they were often in the wrong place, fighting as common soldiers, when they should have been directing others.” General Stonewall Jackson (1924 to 1863) Stonewall Jackson, byname of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, was a Confederate general in the American… Read More

Position to Receive…

“”A present ungraciously given is ungraciously received; an order badly given is badly executed.” [“L’Ame du Soldat”] “The crisp, calculated, and forceful way of giving an order should produce a forceful way of executing it.” [“L’Ame du Soldat”]In giving an order we should first consider the object; secondly, calculate the means; for it is worse… Read More

Holding Prestige…

“Prestige is the basis of discipline, ‘for we shall not lead our men by force or by fear, but solely by the prestige which we hold.’” Captain J.F.C. Fuller (1878 to 1966), from ‘L’Ame du Soldat,’ quoted in Captain J.F.C. Fuller, Training Soldiers for War, 1914 Major General John Frederick Charles ‘Boney’ Fuller, CB, CBE,… Read More